The Australian government has announced that 10 acreage release areas are available for bidding to explore offshore greenhouse gas storage locations.
The areas are offshore of Western Australia, Victoria and Tasmania across seven basins: Bonaparte, Browse, Northern Carnarvon, Perth, Otway, Bass and Gippsland.
Bidding is open until November 28, 2023.
Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA) Chief Executive Samantha McCulloch said: “There is an enormous opportunity for Australia to create new jobs and attract new investment through the development of carbon capture technology. CCUS should be part of this nation’s DNA just like gas production has been for decades because it is basically the gas extraction process in reverse – trapping the emissions in deep geological formations, often in former gas fields.
“With places like the US and UK announcing major cleaner energy packages focused on this technology, Australia needs to ensure it is not missing out on securing emissions reductions and the economic benefits that will come with these new industries.
“There is growing momentum for CCUS globally as well as increasing recognition of the opportunity of the technology to attract new investment, create new jobs, build a major new industry for Australia, and support emissions reductions across the economy and the region.
‘’CCUS will be particularly important to address emissions in hard-to-abate industries like cement, iron and steel and chemical production where few alternatives exist, as well as in scaling up low-carbon hydrogen, where natural gas with CCUS is the lowest cost production method today.”
CCUS is recognised around the world as critical to net zero by independent authorities including the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Australia’s Climate Change Authority (CCA) and the nation’s own leading science body, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).